B.C. HITS CRIMINALS IN THE WALLET

$5-Million Worth Of Gangsters' Goods Has Been Forfeited So Far

B.C.'s two-year-old civil forfeiture program is a huge success, having
taken $5 million away from criminals and gangsters, Solicitor-General
John van Dongen said Friday.

Standing in front of a mint-condition 1999 Mercedes seized after its
gangster owner was found with a gun in a secret compartment, van
Dongen said the program is hitting the criminally-inclined where it
hurts: their wallets.

He said the program became self-sufficient in just 18 months -- half
the time the government thought would be necessary to have it pay for
itself with seized gangster assets.

"It has also begun paying good dividends for victims of crime and
local prevention and remediation efforts," van Dongen said.

Van Dongen said since the program began in mid-2006, there have been
166 cases referred to the civil forfeiture office by police forces
around B.C. That has led to 35 cases that have already been settled
out of court on terms put forward by the government office.

"We have yet to see a case go to full trial in B.C.," van Dongen
boasted.

But that may soon change. The Nanaimo Hells Angels chapter been in
court in Victoria during the past week battling to regain control of
its clubhouse and accompanying property, which was seized by the civil
forfeiture office last December. The hearing will continue in Supreme
Court next week.

"There may be setbacks in the future," the minister conceded. "I want
to be clear that we don't regard civil forfeiture as a magic answer.
It is just one tool that is helping us to remove the profit motive
from illegal activity in British Columbia.

"When a vehicle or a large sum of cash is forfeited, it isn't
available for further unlawful activity and that may help us to stop
that activity in its track."

The Mercedes, estimated to be worth about $20,000, can be purchased
through the police online auction site at www.bcauction.ca. By late
Friday, the highest of 44 bids received was $15,300.

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu also praised the program at a
show-and-tell outside Vancouver Police headquarters Friday, during
which he warned gangsters that police were coming for their toys.

"You may think that you are living large. But we are going to make
sure you won't live that way for long," Chu said. "All the profits you
make off the misery of others -- the money, the cars, the houses --
will be taken from you. The money you have extorted from others will
be used to bring you down. You will in the end pay for your own demise."

He said the VPD is working on a major anti-gang initiative that will
be revealed shortly. The whole program will be funded from the civil
forfeiture program, he said.

According to the two-year report, most of the seized assets were
bought with drug profits, while the second largest group related to
money-laundering. Some of the forfeiters were fraudsters, it said.

As for the Mercedes, it made it onto police radar last March when its
19-year-old owner Quy Phu Tran, of Surrey, was seen by the gang task
force using a cell phone in contravention of a court order.

When the sedan was pulled over and searched in the downtown Vancouver
entertainment district, the handgun was found.

Both Tran and his passenger, 18 year-old Vancouverite Steven Truong,
were charged with knowingly possessing a firearm without a licence,
unauthorized possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and
occupying a vehicle in which there is a firearm.

Tran is also charged with breaching his court conditions.

The case is still before the courts.

Those at the news conference Friday admitted there are some
limitations to the new program. Gangsters who lease their cars can't
have them seized. If they are driving their parents' vehicle, the
civil forfeiture office can't go after it unless they can prove the
relatives know about the gangster's criminal life.

"It is not a replacement for charges that can be brought against an
individual," van Dongen said. "It is not a substitute for the criminal
code."

Read The Real Scoop at vancouversun.com and the full report at
www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/publications